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Fall under the spell of Spellfall
Spellfall (free with in-app purchases) is a puzzle game with RPG elements where you try to match three or more tiles to damage enemies. Players have a certain number of turns to defeat enemies. If they fail to do so, the enemies take their turn to attack. When you run out of health, the battle ends and you're awarded with coins and points. Of course, if you win you get more. Spellfall is compatible with iPhone 4S and up, iPad 3rd generation and up, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPod touch 4th generation and up. Spellfall requires iOS 5.0 or later. Spellfall is a puzzle game with gameplay reminiscent of Puzzle & Dragons, but with more RPG elements such as an item inventory system and spells instead of monsters. Players can use coins to purchase armor, weapons and spells. For example, if you purchase and equip the heal spell equipped, you need to match water tiles to power it up and use it to heal yourself. This spell was very helpful in a lot of the battles. You can equip multiple spells which means you will have to switch out which one is active in order for it to use it. Some spells can be used offensively and others are used defensively like the poison spell. The power of these spells felt appropriate for each level. The heal spell was the most helpful in a lot of cases but there were times where more offensive abilities would be best. After defeating enemies, items are unlocked in the store which you can purchase with virtual coins. After making a "purchase," you must equip that item to use it. Parts of the inventory's user interface are hard to understand because they are not very intuitive. The blue cross button on the right side of the screen is confusing as it is used to show you what items you have equipped, but we can also see this on the inventory page itself. The small box at the bottom of the screen is also a little confusing as its shape suggests you can spin the words to cycle through them, but instead it is a tap function. It can be difficult to progress in Spellfall when you are badly injured through battles with enemies. As your health is very low, you are even more susceptible to every enemies' attacks. It takes a lot of decisive actions and knowledge of each enemies weakness to progress further when injured. There is an option to use coins to heal yourself but this usually wasn't something I had a lot of when playing. You can also wait a certain amount of time to be healed, but these were very long waits of 30 minutes; it didn't seem like a fair amount of time to wait. Another option is to pay real money for coins to exchange for health and keep playing. I found it hard to keep going without a lot of health but this challenge was entertaining and kept me playing in hopes of getting further. This method is not recommended for those who don't have a lot of patience or don't like doing the same battles over and over again. Spellfall is a puzzle game that challenges players to take advantage of each enemies' weakness and utilize spells in order to be victorious in the demanding battles of this tile matching game. Spellfall is available on the App Store for free and is recommended for people who are looking for more challenges in their puzzle games.
Who are you pretending to be?
I know that a lot of WoW players don't care about lore or role playing, and I've always kind of felt that was a shame. Some of the most fun I've had in World of Warcraft was in playing a role (and no, I don't mean tanking) -- I've talked before about the old days when I actually led a Naxx raid in character as an overly concerned tauren worried about all the small people. Nothing irritates an orc warlock as much as hugs, let me tell you. I mention this because, thanks to a coworker's twitter, I discovered Daily Character Development, and it got me thinking about my character. Quite frankly, as silly as it might be to concern myself with the fictional life experiences of a mass of pixels, I also find it brings an extra something to the game. Raids come and go. Gear gets replaced. But I find that even dedicating a little time to who you're raiding on, and who that gear is going to, makes it a little bit more fun for me. Of course, I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who's played tabletop pen and paper RPG's for years and years. But as just one example, when I was playing an orc, I sat back and thought about how that orc would view Garrosh Hellscream and realized that from the perspective of a young orc who's basically grown up on Azeroth, Hellscream was basically the perfect orc. That at least some orcs could totally get behind his agenda. It made the whole Horde civil war aspect of the thing incredibly interesting to me, after I rerolled Alliance again I imagined my orc ended up on the wrong side... and probably dead at the hands of the combined forces besieging the city.
Meet WildStar's brilliant, horrible Mondo Zax
In the world of WildStar, Chua are experts of science and technology responsible for designing weapons and other gadgets for the Dominion empire. And if you've ever wanted to meet one in person, today's your lucky day. Yesterday, Carbine Studios posted an interview with WildStar's most famous Chua, Mondo Zax. Zax is Chief Technologist for the Dominion Research and Experimentation Division (DRED) and a brilliant inventor with a short temper and a malicious streak. You can imagine how the interview turns out for the individual asking the questions. The interview discusses Mondo Zax's family (he probably murdered his siblings) and passions (building guns that melt people's organs) and is worth a read if you're curious about WildStar's main characters and the lore behind them.
EVE Evolved: The Battle for Caldari Prime
The empires of EVE Online have long and bloody histories that, until now, have been played out largely through fictional chronicles and in-character news posts. This week saw conflict erupt in-game between two NPC empires in the Battle for Caldari Prime live event. The neutral CONCORD faction has managed to maintain order between the four main empires of New Eden for decades, but that doesn't stop the Gallente and Caldari factions occasionally violating the peace. The Caldari were originally part of the Gallente Federation but gained independence in a war lasting almost a hundred years. Following an attack on a Gallente city, a right-wing faction in the Gallente government seized power and ordered the bombing of the Caldari homeworld. Millions of Caldari citizens were evacuated from the homeworld, a planet that has been under dispute ever since. Caldari Prime resides in the Luminaire system and is officially inside Gallente territory, but recent events have seen the tables turn. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the story behind the recent Battle for Caldari Prime, accusations that the event was staged and scripted, and what the future may hold for live events in EVE.
Why I Play: The Secret World
I'll be the first to admit that I've been one of The Secret World's biggest fanboys ever since Funcom first announced its horror-flavored entry to the MMO space. I spent many a conversation extolling the game's many virtues to my gaming friends. "It's like real life if the universe were written by horror authors," I enthused, rambling on and on about the innovative investigation missions, the unique skill wheel progression system, the fresh modern-day setting, and so on and so forth. Then finally the fateful day came that TSW went live, and I loved it... for a while. But for some reason, it just didn't click, and so TSW sat unloved, guilt-inducingly staring at me from my desktop. Last week, I finally gave into the guilt and hopped back into the game. I had kept my subscription running, as I knew that even if I wasn't actively playing, I still wanted to support Funcom's endeavors with what I felt was a remarkably refreshing entry into the stagnant MMO marketplace. Last I left my Illuminati agent Rouage, he had hit something of a brick wall in Blue Mountain thanks to a very short-sighted and subpar character build. I figured I'd probably be replaying Kingsmouth and/or Savage Coast just to get the AP to rectify my build anyway, so I scrapped him and started from the beginning. This time, it clicked. So here I am to tell you why it clicked, and of course, why I play The Secret World.
Amazon Game Connect links free-to-play, MMO games to store accounts, turns 1-Click into way too many
Amazon must have a lot of free time for gaming during its summer vacation: just a day after unveiling GameCircle as a cloud infrastructure, it's trotting out Game Connect to make buying game content that much easier. Once it's integrated into a title, the new platform will let customers buy content in free-to-play games, or subscribe to massively multiplayer online games, directly from their Amazon accounts -- no copy-and-paste juggling involved, even if the game account has to be made on the spot. A handful of game developers have already lined up, including Super Monday Night Combat creator Uber Entertainment and World of Tanks' Wargaming.net. If you're engrossed in gaming enough that you'll need 1-Click to buy virtual goods and MMO renewals that much faster, Amazon has you covered... although you may also want to slow down and relax.
Logitech G600 mouse targets button-craving MMO gamers, social life costs extra (video)
If you thought that Logitech was just going to let Razer's Naga MMO mouse go unanswered, you've got another thing coming. The G600 MMO Gaming Mouse matches the Naga's 12 side-mounted buttons and one-ups the rival across the aisle with a toggle that gives each key a second function -- if you can't bind it to a mouse button, odds are that it doesn't belong there. Just in case the prospect of spending an evening programming a mouse isn't all that enticing, the G600 has three profiles right from the start, two for online role-playing and one for when you'd rather play a Call of Duty shooter instead. Of course, the laser tracking and USB response times are fast enough to keep up when you pull aggro from monsters. Gamers willing to wait until July can drop $80 for a G600 in black or white, although we'd also set aside the costs of stepping outside every now and then.
Diablo III becomes fastest-selling PC game ever, deluge of broken PC mice likely to follow
Chalk one up for an at least temporary resurgence in PC gaming. Blizzard can vouch that Diablo III has set a new record for the fastest-selling PC game to date: at 3.5 million copies trading hands through Battle.net downloads or retailers in the first 24 hours, and 6.3 million after a week, that's a whole lot of people battling the biggest of Prime Evils in a very short time. Naturally, a Blizzard-obsessed South Korea is accounting for even more activity, where over 39 percent of play at local gaming houses can be pinned on the action RPG, and the tally doesn't even include the 1.2 million bonus copies coming through a World of Warcraft annual pass promo. Before console gamers start packing up their PlayStations and Xboxes in symbolic resignation, D3 isn't the record-setter for the most copies of any game sold in one day -- that distinction goes to Modern Warfare 3's 6.5 million copies spread across multiple platforms. That's still enough to spur on some furious clicking and possibly a glut of dead mouse buttons, but you'll be glad to know there are suitably-themed replacement mice waiting in the wings.
Two Bosses Enter: Season 4 preview
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. Two Bosses Enter's season finale was a big win for dungeon boss design, with End Time's Murozond beating out the rest of the Hour of Twilight 5-man instance bosses and even some of the Dragon Soul raid bosses, thanks to the Raid Finder. The WoW Insider community connected with an all-around fun fight that wasn't as punishing as some of the other fights in the 5-man heroic tier but made for epic moments and an important climactic battle. Murozond and his unique mechanic will have a lot to say going forward with encounter design, I would imagine, as this whole set of 5-mans has been remarkably successful, for the most part. Sorry, Arcurion. Now that we've got season 3 tucked away, it's time to ponder the future, looking forward toward a brighter and more peaceful tomorrow. Sadly, that tomorrow isn't looking so bright or peaceful, with the Horde and the Alliance preparing to descend upon the lost continent of Pandaria, bitter rivalries and hatreds newly reignited. With war comes heroes from every faction, giving us plenty of cannon fodder for Two Bosses Enter.
Two Bosses Enter Season 3 Finale: Murozond is your champion
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. The votes are tallied and the poll is closed -- Murozond is your Two Bosses Enter Season 3 champion! The maddened aspect took the win over fan favorite Echo of Sylvanas by about 320 votes -- pretty close, all things considered. Murozond emerged as a strong contender early in the voting and never let up, soundly defeating each foe he was paired up against. Congratulations! Did your horse win the race? Are you outraged that the mere embodiment of twisted time and dark knowledge could lay a hand on even a sliver of fair Sylvanas' soul? Hey, I love Sylvanas too, but lately I've been wondering where the heck her story is going, besides trapped in a dragonshrine in a preventable future. Let's see some movement on the Sylvanas story front. %Poll-74705%
Two Bosses Enter: Season 3 finale, Echo of Sylvanas vs. Murozond
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. The fans have spoken, and your two finalists are chosen. The Echo of Sylvanas from the End Time dungeon will face off against Murozond, also from the End Time dungeon. I think we can say then that without a doubt, the new 5-man instances that dropped with patch 4.3 were popular enough to spawn some memorable bosses, specifically End Time. Nice job. Murozond did not squeak by Mannoroth -- he trounced him. Taking 64% of the vote and beating Mannoroth by about a thousand votes, Murozond proved to be the real fan favorite and champion of his brackets. Using the cool hour glass factor as well as great encounter design memories and spectacular moments, the Murozond was raid-worthy in epicness but accessible to the entire World of Warcraft player base. That's an achievement all its own. The real contest begins now, however, as Murozond and the Echo of Sylvanas go head-to-head, toe-to-toe, in a fan favorite matchup that will rival all previous finales. Rally your troops, because this is going to be down to the final few votes -- I can feel it. If you want to watch either one of these bosses dominate, it's time to vote now. %Poll-74705%
Two Bosses Enter: Murozond vs. Mannoroth
Your first finals contender for this season of Two Bosses Enter is here! The Echo of Sylvanas summarily defeated the Echo of Baine, crushing the vote and positioning herself for a huge win at the end of the tournament. People just love them some Sylvanas, don't they? What can I say? And, speaking of Echos, if you don't mind, I will begin at the beginning ... Your second finals contender is about to be crowned. Murozond, twisted and tainted, exists as a separate shadow of his former Aspect, Nozdormu, in every moment. His time has not come -- it came for an eternity before this moment and will come for an eternity after this moment. Mannoroth, destroyer of worlds and the lives existing on each, seeks only destruction of all things standing in the way of total universal domination by the Burning Legion. Two beings built for pure chaos face off this week in the Two Bosses Enter arena! Cast your vote now. Seriously, cast your vote. The buttons call to you, like the sirens to Odysseus, except that you aren't tied to the mast ... and now you've crashed into Fun Island! Just vote. %Poll-74597%
Two Bosses Enter: Echo of Baine vs. Echo of Sylvanas
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. We have only three matches left in Two Bosses Enter Season 3: The Reckoning, Pre-Mists edition -- and they are going to be exciting. Each of the two semifinal matches will divide fanbases, challenge the status quo, and truly shake the very foundation of Two Bosses Enter forever. There is quite literally nothing more exciting than the next three weeks right here ... Same Two Bosses time, same Two Bosses station. Two Echoes face off once again in the first semifinal match of the tournament. The Echo of Baine, leader of the tauren tribes at Thunderbluff, awaits tormented in agony within the Black Dragonshrine, awaiting the true cosmic and universal death that I assume is coming with a Burning Legion victory in the supposed End Time future. The Echo of Sylvanas broods in the Red Dragonshrine, waiting to enact her vengeance upon anyone, anything that happens to be living and moving across the barren wasteland of the Dragonblight. These two competitors have heavy followings, and I cannot wait to see which fans come out in force for. In what I believe is quite an upset, Lord Godfrey has fallen to the might of Mannoroth. I should have seen it coming -- Mannoroth has been an unstoppable force through this tournament so far. Did you have your gold pieces on this monstrosity to take it all the way? You might have been right about it, after all. Vote, vote, vote me hearties -- vote, vote, vote me hearties today. %Poll-74455%
Two Bosses Enter: Mannoroth vs. Lord Godfrey
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. Oh ho ho ho, this promises to be quite the matchup, ladies and gentlemen. Can the pit lord general and his wacky elf sidekick take down gunslinger extraordinaire Lord Godfrey in a duel to the presumable death? I'm excited. Get excited! I've got Mannoroth taking this one in an early and decisive victory. Sorry, Godfrey fans -- I call 'em like I sees 'em. Last week's matchup was a doozy that took me by surprise. I did not expect a win for Murozond because I thought that Azshara would have a more loyal following. Much like her misguided and tainted Highborne, her followers were not strong or numerous enough to cinch the win. Sorry, lady, you're out. Now it is time to vote. You heard me -- vote! Who will advance to the next round? Choose! I can't push to any more than I already have. %Poll-74300%
Two Bosses Enter: Murozond vs. Queen Azshara
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. Another exciting episode of Two Bosses Enter hits you in the face right now with an exciting matchup between the infinite master of time, Murozond, and Queen Azshara, one of the most revered night elves in Azeroth's history. You will get to decide who moves on to the next round by voting for your favorite combatant and discussing the fight in the comments. You're going to have a blast. The fight last week was a real doozy, wasn't it? The Echo of Sylvanas pulled out a decisive victory over the hordes of Old God fanboys, eager to watch their champion move forward into the tournament as the world goes mad watching. Too bad, since Zon'ozz is out. Better find a new servant of the Old Gods to flip out over. %Poll-74070%
Two Bosses Enter: Echo of Sylvanas vs. Warlord Zon'ozz
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. Welcome back to the WoW Insider ring, where two champions will face off in mortal combat (with a c, not a k) and the ultimate winner being decided by you. This week, the Echo of Sylvanas aims to knock Warlord Zon'ozz and his Old God masters back to the very abyss that they came from. It'll be a hard fight, considering people actually know who General Zon'ozz is for once because of the incredible Raid Finder. Last week, the Echo of Baine barely carved out a win with a staggeringly close 51.7% of the vote. Sadly, that means the Echo of Jaina is sent home packing, and the tauren chieftain's ancient spirit echo lives to fight another day. You may be getting your own book in the coming months, Jaina, but this is where your story ends on Two Bosses Enter. Ha, ha! Clever! Vote now or forever be wracked with the pain and guilt of despair as your favorite combatant loses by the vote you never cast. Vote now and be saved from the torment! %Poll-74034%
Two Bosses Enter: Echo of Baine vs. Echo of Jaina
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. Ah, this will be a fun mashup fight to watch. While I would have originally said this would be a win for Baine's father Cairne immediately, I don't know if I can say the same for his son. With Baine's popularity on the rise, however, anything is possible. There is also the looming irony of two of the most friendly and conflict-averse characters in the entire game going head-to-head in a winner-takes-all fight. It's almost like it was planned all along. Don't worry, it wasn't. I'm not that clever. Last week's matchup was a sad shut-out for Arcurion, who I am sure most people don't even know because he lives at the beginning of a dungeon that people try their best to close their eyes and breeze through. Truth be told, it usually works, and that's all right in my book. Easy and fun are better than frustrating and time-consuming, in my book. Who takes home the next coveted spot on the ever-dangerous quest to become the champion on Two Bosses Enter? Only you can decide ... %Poll-73884%
Two Bosses Enter: Arcurion vs. Lord Godfrey
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. The icy wastes of the Dragonblight are harsh enough without the interference of Arcurion, one of the last undefeared ice ascendants in Deathwing's elemental army. His mission: Stop Thrall from reaching Wyrmrest Temple. Opposite this frosty foe is our championship winner from last season, Shadowfang Keep denizen Lord Godfrey, whose double pistols stole the hearts and minds of readers. Godfrey's cool tricks, as well as some other favorable matches, made last season's competition one of the best yet. Last week's match was a resounding victory for Mannoroth and Varo'then, easily wrecking Asira Dawnslayer and her night elf allies. It was a serious whooping, friends, with a final tally giving the demon duo 69.5% of the vote. Nice win, kids. Which of our two champions will advance to the next round of Two Bosses Enter? Only you can decide ... %Poll-73783%
Wings Over Atreia: Ode to 3.0
*cue pitch pipe* Twinkle, twinkle, little patch, How I wonder where you're at? In the East they play with ease, In the West you're just a tease! Twinkle, twinkle, three point oh, Hurry please I want you so! I've tried to be patient. I really have. I even avoided any wayward glances at Aion's Korean patch notes (translated, of course) for 3.0. That way, I could contain my excitement a little better. I mean, we already know I am dying for housing, and I also know mounts are involved. But there is always so much more, and I was trying to make the wait more bearable. I stood firm in my resolve. Then I broke down. I peeked. And oh how the many-tendriled beast of anticipation took hold of me once again! Of course there is always the requisite "fixed this bug" and "changed that appearance" filler, but when mining deeper, you also find some definite valuable nuggets. Aion's next patch has some "how cool," some "oh wow, that's really unexpected," and some "about time!" thrown in as well. From new zones to new instances to new features, there is plenty coming our way. Don't want to tax your scroll wheel and sift through the entire patch notes yourself? Wings Over Atreia delves in to uncover some of the most tantalizing treasures for you.
RIFT team updates RP server naming policy
The fine folks at Trion Worlds have finally answered a pressing question that's been on the tongues of RIFT roleplayers since launch: What are the roleplaying server naming rules, and how are they being enforced? Scott Hartsman stepped into the forums recently to offer clarification on the topic, something for which RIFT roleplayers are certainly grateful. Hartsman says that the team's goal with naming rules is to "apply sanity and reason, as best as we can, to this inherently subjective topic that's as much about opinions as it is about facts." In light of this, the rules that will be imposed are fairly standard for the genre -- no partial or complete sentences (sorry, Ipwnyouhard!), no pop-culture references, no leetspeak, and no titles that are "obviously out of place in Telara" -- but even so, it's great to see them explicitly spelled out so players know what to expect. Hopefully this will lead to a more enjoyable roleplaying experience for anyone on RIFT's RP servers. For the full post, which also includes some tidbits on customer service feedback, skip on over to the official forum post.
